Confusion over status of Geraldo Rivera in Iraq

Reuters | 3/31/03 | Charles Aldinger

[kattracks]

Confusion over status of Geraldo Rivera in Iraq

By Charles Aldinger

WASHINGTON, March 31 (Reuters) - Veteran reporter and former talk show host Geraldo Rivera, a correspondent for Fox News, was asked to be removed from Iraq by the U.S. military for reporting Western troop movements in the war, the Pentagon said on Monday.

But in a report from Iraq where he was about 60 miles (100 km) from Baghdad with the 101st Airborne Division, Rivera, known for his provocative on-screen style, said all was well and suggested he wasn't being ejected from the country by the U.S. military for coverage of the war.

Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman later told Reuters, however, that Fox News itself had agreed to remove Rivera after the military commander where Rivera was reporting felt that he had "compromised operational security."

A Fox spokesman said: "All I can tell you is that he's still reporting from Iraq."

Rivera said in his televised report that he did not know where the reports about the alleged security violations came from but accused colleagues, including former employer NBC, of perhaps "spreading some lies about me." He suggested all was well between him and the military.

"I'm further in the country than I have ever been," Geraldo said.

"If you were to ask me on whether or not he had reported on things that were of tactical value and compromised operational security, I would have to say yes. In the eyes of the commander on the ground, he did," Whitman told Reuters.

"I would say that he is going to be leaving Iraq," added Whitman. "Fox has talked to us and they have indicated to us that they are going to remove him from the area of operations."

Whitman, who had earlier said the military was ejecting Rivera, later amended that to Fox agreeing to withdraw the correspondent.

Reports from competing media said earlier that Rivera, a former talk show host and veteran correspondent who has also reported the war in Afghanistan and high-profile stories such as the O.J. Simpson murder trial, had been accused of violating rules against compromising operational security.

Whitman said Rivera was not officially "embedded," or assigned to the unit by the military, but was covering the troops at the time.

03/31/03 13:32 ET

[kcvl]

Considering the source is CNN, who knows what the truth is...

Military kicks Geraldo out of Iraq

'He gave away the big picture stuff'
From Chris Plante

Monday, March 31, 2003 Posted: 5:05 PM EST (2205 GMT)


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Fox News Channel correspondent Geraldo Rivera is being expelled from Iraq for broadcasting details about future U.S. troop movements in the country, according to the Pentagon.


http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/03/31/sprj.irq.geraldo/

[dep]

oh, yes. cnn is out to get him. msnbc is out to get him. when abc fired him for the ounce of cocaine found on his desk, that must have been a plant. the guy who whacked him across the face with a chair is a secret space alien sent from the planet xerxes to make sure geraldo does not tell the terrible secret he knows.

for geraldo, getting out of bed in the morning is, apparently, life-threatening. or he could be certifiably nuts.

dep

[A CA Guy]

Hey if this doesn't work out with Fox, Geraldo always has the animal planet where he can teach on the various uses and exciting life of gerbils...

[kcvl]

Geraldo getting pulled from Iraq?
Despite reports Fox taking him out, reporter broadcasts from war zone

---

Posted: March 31, 2003
1:49 p.m. Eastern



© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com


Despite a Reuters report quoting a Pentagon spokesman as claiming Fox News Channel correspondent Geraldo Rivera will be removed from Iraq, Rivera is reporting today from deep inside Iraq and insisting his ouster is a vicious rumor being spread by cable news competitor MSNBC.

The Pentagon says Rivera is being disciplined after reportedly divulging information about coalition troop movement in the war.





http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=31799

[dep]

Rivera is reporting today from deep inside Iraq and insisting his ouster is a vicious rumor being spread by cable news competitor MSNBC.

except that cnn and reuter had it before msnbc did.

dep

[kcvl]

08:44 AEST Tue 1 Apr 2003

Rivera kicked out of Iraq


AFP - Celebrity television journalist Geraldo Rivera, who has been on assignment covering the US-led war in Iraq, has been told by US military officials that he is no longer welcome to accompany US troops there.

"I can confirm that it has been done," said military spokesman Navy Lieutenant Commander Charles Owens today, contacted at Central Command headquarters in Qatar.

Owens said Rivera, a star of the Fox News television network, was not embedded with troops, but had been "asked to leave the unit he was with."

Military officials were short on details about reasons for Rivera's dismissal, but according to US news reports, Rivera was told to leave Iraq after an on-air appearance during which he drew a map in the sand revealing information about US troop locations.

Military officials would not confirm the reason for the move however.

"We're suggesting that people call Fox News to get details," Owens said today.

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/Entertainment/story_47234.asp

[A CA Guy]

Well, that does it, it's Geraldo and the facinating life of and with gerbils on the Animal Planet. Only after 11PM for adult viewing of course.

[kcvl]

Rivera Denies Being Kicked Out of Iraq


Geraldo Rivera says it's a ''pack of lies.'' He's denying reports that he's been kicked out of Iraq by US military officials for giving out too much information about troop locations.

Reporting on the Fox News Channel, Rivera said he's actually further inside Iraq than he'd been before. He was standing alongside US troops in a building he identified as Iraq's ruling party headquarters in a city south of Baghdad.

Rivera says it sounds like the rumors that he'd been kicked out were spread by people he described as ''rats'' at NBC, where he used to work. He says his rivals ''can't compete fair and square on the battlefield,'' so they try to stab him in the back. But in the end, he insists, ''quality journalism wins out.''

Rivera says he has a ''great relationship'' with the troops in the 101st Airborne, and that he plans to ''march into Baghdad alongside them.'' Sources at US Central Command have said that Rivera was asked to leave because he revealed tactical information.

[mtbopfuyn]

I litterally choked on my coffee this morning when he started drawing the map in the sand.

Yes, but no one is criticizing every channel across the nation for airing 'Fingers in the Sand'. Who has loose lips now, huh? Guess we'll have to wait until tomorrow for the next installment of this soap opera.

[MinuteGal]

I just heard (6:30 PM Eastern) NPR reporting that Geraldo was a goner.

Leni

[dep]

brit hume, just now, said that rivera is "under pentagon investination." hume acknowledged that cnn and msnbc had said rivera had been ordered out of iraq, but as of tonight he is with the 101st, and "his next assignment has not been determined."

of course, i guess brit hume could be out to get him, too.

dep

[GOPrincess]

Brit Hume finally broke the silence...said Geraldo is "under Pentagon investigation" but that although other stations said he was kicked out, at least as of tonight he is still reporting from the 101st. Hume seemed almost as clueless as the rest of us .

[commish]

Hume seemed almost as clueless as the rest of us

That's because Geraldo is on Double Secret Probation!

Seriously, since he is not already gone, I would imagine that he has been given a severe weewee whacking and will probably find information herd to come by from now on, but will be allowed to stay -- as long as he doesn't play in the sand.

[GreyWolf]

Do you honestly believe that Geraldo is involved in military briefings where classified information is discussed?

I know. It's hard to believe, but I was watching a couple of nights ago when they stopped for awhile and had a staff meeting with maps spread out on a table and there was Geraldo in his bomber jacket standing right in the midst of it. I was astounded.

[dep]

the rules are that if reporters are to receive assistance or protection from the allied military, they are supposed to do no map or map-like stuff from the field. none. in addition, geraldo described how they were going to approach the town, who would be approaching, the units they expected to encounter, and when they would do it. all based on information he had received from the commander at the scene, not retired general speculation in new york. so while i expect geraldo will be given an opportunity to retreat gracefully, retreat he will if he expects cooperation from our guys, at all, ever again.

and it probably took a lot of negotiation to get him even that.

what i find interesting is the outraged, inflamed, accusatory tone geraldo took this morning, labeling it all "a pack of lies," when in fact it appears to have been substantially true.

dep

[dep]

more, now, here.

dep

[fight_truth_decay]

CNN, MSNBC and ABC..have their own set of ongoing problems.

Shhh..that space alien and I share the same ship. How did you know about Xerses? Damn imbedded galaxy reporters!

[fight_truth_decay]

Arnett who put NBC ahead by being first with the news that the U.S.-led aerial bombardment of Baghdad had begun.

It was Sky who first ran the bombardment and I believe the networks such as NBC were still showing their reality shows.

Charge Arnett with sedition. An apology doesn't cut it.

And pull the "glory media boys" out of the war. What soldier fighting a battle wants a camera in his or her face anyway.

[jws3sticks]

Here he is as a boy:

[princess leah]

Media idiots like Jeraldo RIvera need to be dropped off about 50 miles from any border and told to find their way home!